


Jay's Dilemma

by Patrycja444d



Series: Descendants (2015) - OS Collection [1]
Category: Descendants (Disney Movies)
Genre: Humor, Light Angst, Multi, Pining, Romance, self-deprecation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-10-01
Updated: 2017-10-01
Packaged: 2019-01-07 10:47:20
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,200
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12231300
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Patrycja444d/pseuds/Patrycja444d
Summary: Jay starts to act different. Carlos gets worried about his best friend and tries to figure out the reason behind Jay's behavior. Once he knows what's bothering the older boy, Carlos decides to help Jay with his problem. While Jay appreciates his friend's help, he hopes he won't regret it in the end. After all, 'angry and determined Carlos' meant '(d)evil Carlos'...





	Jay's Dilemma

** Jay’s Dilemmas **

It was another day in Auradon Prep and another day in which we could find the Core Four sitting together in girls’ room. Carlos like always was doing something on his laptop, Mal was drawing another portrait of her boyfriend, Evie was sewing a new dress and Jay was sitting on a bed playing with a green glass marble that he had found under Mal’s bed. Everything in this picture would look perfectly normal if not for the fact that Jay wasn’t focusing on the small ball in his hand. Instead he was staring at his blue-haired friend talking excitedly about her new fashion projects.

“Oh, I can’t wait to see Lonnie in this red dress. I am sure she’s going to look just lovely in it! Don’t you think so?” she asked her fellow VKs but completely ignoring their answers. Well, not like these answers really mattered. Mal’s distracted ‘yeah, sure…’ and Carlos’ off-handed humming sound only proved that they were completely ignoring their friend’s happy bubbling. Evie didn’t mind though as all her focus was solely on a piece of delicate fabric she held in her hands.

“As long as you’re the one making clothes, everyone’s going to look good.” A verbal response that resonated in the room made everyone look up from their own tasks to gaze at the owner of the voice – it was unusual to have someone other than Evie speak during the Core Four ‘bonding time’. And even if _that_ happened, it was _never_ the son of Jafar.

Jay was looking at Evie, still absent-mindedly flipping the small marble. She blinked at him, surprised by his sudden compliment. A second later a wide smile blossomed on her pretty face. Jay’s comment, not matter how unexpected it was, made Evie even more energetic than normally.

“Thank you, Jay! It’s so nice to hear someone appreciate my work. Not like it is a work for me. I love it after all!” She giggled happily and went into another ‘monologue’ about fabrics, dresses, shirts, skirts and other pieces of wardrobe that she would like to make.

Jay was hanging on her every word, nodding and agreeing with everything she said. Carlos and Mal, weirded-out by the situation, looked at each other silently asking the same question: _‘What’s wrong with him?’._ They both observed their friend suspiciously for a moment and it was obvious there was something strange about their friend. While Carlos was concerned though, Mal just shrugged it off as another effect of them choosing good instead of bad. She had too much on her mind with all the royal events going on around her to be worried with her friend’s surprising behavior. They were supposed to be nice, courteous and polite now anyway, right?

* * *

The next day found the boys of Core Four on the Tourney field practicing before the Friday match against a team from some country neither of the boys could remember the name of. It didn’t matter anyway. What did matter was that the rival team was really good and had unique strategies. They knew they had to train hard if they wanted to win on Friday and that meant every day, sometimes 3-hours long, practice.

Everything seemed to be going smoothly at first. Their defense was strong and ready to deflect every disc in the kill zone if it came to that, shooters had a good aim and some tricks up their sleeves and their offense was as fast, determined and well-knitted as ever. The coach was in exceptionally good mood seeing his team working together so efficiently.

There was only one ‘but’ that no one but Carlos seemed to notice. While the whole team worked almost perfectly, Jay, one of the team’s stars, was distracted. His form was good as always and he kept scoring point by point but at the same time his reactions seemed to be delayed.

Carlos was worried. He knew Jay better than most people being his friend since before Auradon and now his roommate. Jay was hot-headed and despite his average grades, he was a fast-thinker. Seeing him taking longer than normal – even if it was just a few seconds – to catch the hang of situation and take action, was unsettling.

Especially now.

Jay ran into a kill zone. It wouldn’t be anything abnormal – the guy tended to do that a lot during matches – but if Carlos didn’t warn him, he would get a disc straight into his head. It looked like he completely forgot about a kill zone or didn’t see it. Both of those options seemed almost impossible and yet, there was no other explanation.

Having a bad feeling, Carlos managed to convince the coach to take Jay of the field. He had lied, saying something about decreasing efficiency of players that spend longer than 2-hours on the field without a break and increasing fatigue of muscles that can bring the player to run slower than normally. Carlos could thank his reputation here. Being called a genius by more than half of the school, made the coach believe, even though reluctantly, about what he had said and take Jay off the field for the rest of the practice.

*

Jay was surprised by the sudden decision of the coach but didn’t question it. For the whole practice his mind was occupied with thoughts other than Tourney and he could be only happy no one seemed to see it. He went to sit on a bench. Despite being dismissed for the day, he wanted to watch his teammates – he might come up with some new tactic that would help them win the Friday match.

Well, his intentions were good but just a few minutes later he stopped paying attention to what was going on in front of him. His thoughts once again wandered towards the beautiful blue-haired girl that in the last few months became the most important person in his life. She was kind, full of life, determined, helpful, dashing, intelligent, hard-working and many, many more. She was just… perfect. Truly the fairest of them all indeed. And he, Jay, fell in love with her without even knowing when.

Yes, Jay loved Evie and nothing would make him happier than her loving him back. But even though he wanted to be the one to make her smile, the one to hold her hand, the one to kiss her or the one to simply listen to her talking about anything and everything, Jay had never asked her out and had no intention of doing so now or in the future. Why would he torture his own heart when he could just go and ask the lovely girl on a date? The answer was simple. Jay didn’t believe he deserved her.

She was someone every Auradon princess should be jealous of. Beautiful in and out. While Evie blossomed while living in Auradon, Jay stayed mostly the same. He still stole something from time to time, liked to play pranks and tease people around him, and toppling other players during Tourney was basically his hobby. How someone like him could ever be worthy of someone as perfect as Evie? She was just too good for him.

His musings were interrupted by the mentioned blue-haired girl. She stood at the end of the bleachers waving him over to her. Without much thought, Jay jogged to her with a smile. Just seeing her delicately pink face was making his day seem brighter than before.

“Hey, Evie. What’s up?” he asked stopping in front of the beauty.

“Hi, Jay. I need your help,” she asked just slightly biting on her bottom lip, completely unaware what it did to her friend’s heart.

“Sure. What do you want me to do?” he agreed immediately.

“There’s a certain box that needs to be moved to my room but it’s too heavy for me to carry. Would you do that for me?” she asked hopefully.

“No problem. Just lead the way.”

“Thank you, Jay. You’re the best!”

She skipped happily towards the school building, Jay obediently following her. In the middle of the foyer stood a middle-sized closed box. Despite it looking rather normal it was surprisingly heavy. Jay was sure than only a few guys in their school would be able to lift it. It made him happy he belonged to that group as he could now spend just a little bit of an alone time with his secret love.

The walk to their dorms wasn’t the longest but Jay was grateful for even such a short time he had with Evie. He put the box down on the girl’s bed carefully. He moved away from it when Evie rushed to open it up. She was absolutely ecstatic ripping off a sealing tape. Jay looked from behind her shoulder into the box. He furrowed his eyebrows at the sight of many colorful pieces of fabrics, small glass and plastic items, and many other different things he wasn’t even able to describe.

“Why do you need all of that?” he asked in confusion.

“I’m making new outfits for the VKs that are going to come soon. I want them to have something more than just their old clothes from the Isle. You know, something new for a new start,” she stated with a smile.

“Good idea, Evie. I bet they will love it.” He smiled back at her.

“You think so? Thank you, Jay. Now excuse me. I have lots to do. These fabrics won’t get sewed together by themselves, right?” She winked at him playfully once he was outside and then closed the door.

Jay stood for a minute in front of the girls’ door contemplating the whole situation. Once he got back to Earth from cloud nine, he turned on his hills and went to his own room. The moment he stepped inside, he moved straight to his bed and fell on it. He didn’t even think about going to shower after practice and change his clothes into something fresh.

Carlos, who came back to the dorm a few minutes before Jay, looked at the other boy in surprise. While they both weren’t exactly clean-freaks, shower after Tourney practice was a must. All the dirt from the field that stuck to their sweaty skin felt gross even to them. The only situation in which they didn’t shower was when they were so occupied with something that they were ignoring everything around – and on – them. While it happened at times to Carlos when he was working on some projects, it practically never happened to Jay. In that moment Carlos knew that there was something seriously bothering his friend.

“Hey, are you alright?” Carlos asked making the older boy jump in startle. Jay blinked, finally noticing his roommate.

“Yeah, nothing’s wrong,” Jay answered offhandedly but Carlos only raised his eyebrow at him.

“I don’t believe you. You’re acting _way_ too weird for it to be ‘nothing’.” Carlos crossed his arms waiting for Jay to say something.

“Seriously. Nothing’s wrong. You’re just paranoid. I’m perfectly normal.” Jay rolled his eyes and quickly stood up wanting to run away from his observant friend. “I’m going to shower.”

Without waiting for his roommate to make any comment at his sudden declaration, Jay grabbed his spare clothes and rushed to the bathroom. Carlos was taken aback by his friend’s defensive behavior. From the two of them it was Carlos that tried to run away from problems, not Jay. Something was up with the older boy and Carlos promised himself to figure out what it was. Hopefully, it was nothing bad.

* * *

The afternoon was great. It was sunny and warm despite it being a middle of October already. Carlos decided to use the nice weather to go on a longer walk with Dude. The dog was happily running through the forest, stopping from time to time to sniff some trees. Before Carlos even realized it, they played together for 3 whole hours. It wouldn’t be long for the Sun to start hiding behind the horizon.

Carlos sighed in relief when he saw the Tourney field. Since the Core Four came to Auradon, Carlos managed to get to know the forest rather well but he wasn’t eager to get stuck in it during the night. Carlos headed towards the dormitory, Dude treading just behind him. He still had some homework to do that needed a check in school library and, like everyone in Auradon knew, the Fairy Godmother had a thing for curfews. He needed to finish it before eleven.

Passing by the massive tree under which the Core Four and their friends liked to eat lunch, Carlos noticed Jay. The older boy was sitting on the ground leaning his back against the tree and looking at something intensely. Another evidence of Jay’s unusual behavior. If the thing at which Jay was staring at was the reason for his weirdness, Carlos had to know what it was. He quickly but carefully came closer to Jay.

“Hey, Jay,“ he said startling the other once again.

“Carlos! Haven’t seen you all afternoon! Had a blast with Dude?” the other asked nervously.

“Yeah, chased some squirrels, barked on some birds… You know, the usual.”

“Cool.” Jay seemed kind of distressed by Carlos sudden appearance, every once in a while wandering his eyes to the spot he was staring at just a moment ago.

“So… what’s up?” Carlos asked hoping for some good answers but apparently Jay still had no intentions to admit what was bothering him so much.

“Nothing, really. The same old. I need to go know. I just remembered that I have to… ah… ask Chad if he knows about our next… practice! Yes, practice. See you later.”

Jay quickly stood up and bolted towards the dormitory. Carlos sighed seeing his friend’s fast departure. Since the boy wouldn’t tell him himself, Carlos decided that the best thing to do was to sit on Jay’s place under the tree and see what held all of Jay’s attention. Once on the ground Carlos looked in the direction Jay was staring in before. At first he didn’t see anything particularly interesting. Some beds of colorful flowers, a few benches, the entrance to the school and huge windows that were touching the ground. Everything seemed perfectly normal.

Carlos was ready to give up when one of the big windows attracted his attention. On the other side of the glass he could see one of library tables. On the chair directly in front of him was sitting a girl. There wouldn’t be anything weird about it as, one, it was a public place and second, Jay liked to watch girls. What shocked Carlos though was the fact it wasn’t any random girl. It was no one else but his blue-haired fiend, Evie!

Carlos quickly analyzed Jay’s later behavior. First, he was agreeing to everything Evie said. Second, he got distracted in the middle of the practice. Third, he forgot to shower after he came back from… somewhere. ‘ _Possibly Evie’s room?’_ Carlos thought. And fourth, he stared at their blue-haired girl. ‘ _Could it really be it? Does Jay have a crush on Evie?_ ’ Even if Carlos had hard time believing it, there was just no other rational explanation.

Jay liked Evie as more than just a friend.

* * *  
  


When his assignment was finally finished, Carlos went back to his room. The sight of Jay lying on his bed didn’t surprise him as it was almost 11 o’clock already. It was the best opportunity to ask Jay questions. With curfew around the corner, the older boy didn’t have any way to escape from Carlos. Putting his books and notes away Carlos sat on his own bed facing Jay. The other looked at him with a raised eyebrow but otherwise didn’t move.

“Okay. For the last few days you were acting weird and I think I know why,” Carlos started trying to see his friend’s reaction.

“Nah, I’m okay. Don’t know what you’re talking about,” Jay snorted attempting to brush the other off.

“Well, I’m talking about you stalking Evie.” Carlos had enough of beating around the bush and decided to confront Jay straight on.

“What?! I’m not stalking Evie!” Jay sat up in indignation.

“Then what were you staring at this afternoon when I found you under that tree?”

“The school. I was… admiring the architecture,” Jay tried the excuse but they both knew the ex-thief’s only real interests were in sports.

“Really?” Carlos asked skeptically and raised his brow for the effect. Jay sighed and lay back down heavily.

“Fine, you won. I _was_ staring at Evie. I like her, okay?”

“You finally admitted it.”

“I hope you’re _finally_ happy,” Jay said sarcastically not at all pleased someone found out his secret. Carlos just rolled his eyes at his friend’s antics.

“One thing makes me curious,” Carlos said after a short pause gaining Jay’s attention. “Why didn’t you ask her out?”

“Well… First there was Doug. He’s sort of a friend, right? Hitting on his girl would be breaking a bro-code. And then, when Evie was actually available I realized… I’m not good enough for her.” Jay shrugged his shoulders sadly and averted his eyes away from Carlos. He didn’t want to see pity in his friend’s eyes. Carlos was shocked by the revelation. Jay was known as a womanizer but he was a good guy. He didn’t even get back on Chad for all the things he had done to him. And in Carlos opinion Chad deserved to ‘lose’ all of his beauty products and a phone. Again.

“Bro, what are you talking about?” Carlos asked taken aback by his roommate. “You’re a great guy.”

“You don’t get it. Evie… Evie’s perfect. She’s kind, brave, talented, elegant and beautiful at that. I have no chance with someone like her. I’m just a thief from the Isle.” Jay started pacing around the room.

“You really have it bad for her,” Carlos murmured low enough for Jay not to hear before raising his voice a little. “Listen Jay. Maybe Evie is all those things you just said but you’re forgetting one thing.” Jay looked at him partly curious and partly offended that Carlos questioned Evie’s good qualities. “Evie is as much of an Isle kid as you are. And from the both of you, _you_ are the one that changed more. You stopped stealing; you don’t engage in pointless fights; you don’t take revenges on people. You’re a good guy that actually tries his best. And in comparison to all of those princes, you’re an angel,” Carlos snorted actually just realizing how true that statement was.

“Yeah, right. What about Ben? He’s ten times better than I am.”

“Ben doesn’t count. He’s Mal’s and he’s a king, not a prince.”

“Whatever…” Jay collapsed on his bed again.

“Jay, I don’t think you’re problem lies with ‘Evie being better than you’. You’re just scared she will reject you, aren’t you?” Carlos asked slowly trying not to anger his friend.

“…Yeah, I am scared. I admit it. But why would she want someone like me to be her boyfriend? I have nothing to offer to her,” Jay said with a resigned sigh.

“Well, you can’t know whether she wants you or not if you don’t ask her.”

“Wait, you want me to ask Evie out? On a date?” Jay looked at the other skeptically.

“Yes. If you don’t ask her, you will never know if she likes you back,” Carlos answered seriously.

“And what if she doesn’t?”

“Then at least you will be able to move on and not dwell on it for the rest of your life.” Carlos rolled his eyes but seeing his friend’s annoyed face added, “Jay, you’re the guy girls are actually fighting for. You’re smart, athletic and from the four of us, you’re the first one Evie would lean on when she needs help. And Evie’s not a shallow girl. If someone was to see all those good things that you hide under your skin, it would be her.” Carlos put a hand on Jay’s shoulder trying to give the boy some courage.

“Thanks, Carlos. You’re a good friend. I will ask her out tomorrow,” Jay said with a newfound enthusiasm but a moment later a frown showed on his face. “Carlos, how do I ask Evie out?”

“Seriously, bro? You’re the one the girls swarm over, not me.”

“Well, I am me after all,” Jay answered cockily apparently having most of his confidence restored. “But for real. I have no idea how to ask her. I have never asked any girl out. They were the one asking me.” Carlos rolled his eyes feeling like his own confidence went down the drain.

“Fine. I will help you but don’t expect miracles. My experience with girls ends at holding hands. And only in a friendly way at that.”

“Thanks, bro. I owe you.” Jay smiled in that wickedly way of his and then jump under the covers on his bed.

“You sure do,” Carlos grunted back before going to change into his pajama and lying down himself. After all the next day already seemed to be one of the hardest he had ever had during their time spend in Auradon.

* * *

“So… how am I asking Evie out?” Jay asked clueless about the whole dating thing while rubbing the back of his neck uneasily.

“Well… you can write her a letter and leave it at her locker if you don’t want to do it face to face or you can just simply walk up to her and just ask,” Carlos said with a shrug. Both of the ideas were the most common ones he had seen in movies but he had no doubt that it was exactly how it was done in Auradon too.

“A letter?” Jay made a disgusted face. “Dude, I’m not some cheesy prince that smiles 24/7. Why would you even think of something like that?” Carlos shrugged his shoulders again but he realized Jay was right – the guy wasn’t the type to do the asking the Auradon way.

“Evie likes romantic things,” Carlos explained but didn’t elaborate more on the topic. “Then the second option. Go to her and just ask. You avoid being sappy and can see her reaction at the same time.”

“That’s it? You think it will work?” Jay asked with doubt.

“I guess so. It works in the movies, right? Dude, I told you I have no experience with girls.”

“Okay. I think I can do it. I talk to her every day. How different can it be?” Jay said with a smirk. He looked confident but Carlos had a feeling that his statement just jinxed the whole thing.

* * *

Jay gulped looking at the girl of his dreams. She was standing there, just a few meters away from him looking as beautiful as always. He wanted to walk up to her but something was preventing him from doing so.

He was so wrong. It was way different from how he talked to Evie on daily basis. It was insane! He always talked to her normally. He had no problems with starting a conversation with a blue-haired girl but today, he felt as if ground was going to crumble under his feet at any moment now and bury him whole.

Jay looked to his left to where Carlos stood behind the wall. Jay asked him to come with him to act as his wingman. Carlos, seeing the distressed look on his friend’s face silently called him over. Jay quickly made his way to the other boy.

“Dude, I can’t do it,” Jay whispered hoarsely showing how nervous he really was.

“Yes, you can,” Carlos said firmly. “You’re a VK. You’re strong and brave. You know how to talk to girls. And you know Evie better than most people here. You said it yourself. You talk to her every day. It’s a new day and you’re going to talk to her again. Like always.”

“You don’t get it,” Jay whined. “It’s different! I’ve never ask her out in our conversations. Normally we talk about… stuff! You know, school, Tourney, clothes she makes. What I am to do? Just go and say ‘hey, wanna go on a date with me’?” Jay started panicking slightly.

“Well… something like that,” Carlos admitted sheepishly making Jay glare at him. “Okay, bro. First thing, relax. She’s not going to bite your head off. Now listen. You go up to her and start talking about ‘stuff’ like you usually do. When you feel the moment is right, just propose a picnic or a dinner, or something.”

“Okay… how would I know when’s that ‘right moment’?” Jay asked twisting his fingers nervously.

“I’m sure you will know but if you really need an advice… Just listen to her,” Carlos said seriously and Jay blinked at him uncertainly. “If you listen carefully, you will the opportunity to ask her out without scaring her off.”

There was a short silence between the two before Jay nodded. He took a deep breath and turned towards the blue-haired girl. She was so engrossed in her work that she didn’t see him coming closer. Jay gently tapped her shoulder making the girl jump slightly. She immediately turned to him with a frown but it was quickly replaced by a genuine smile.

“Hey, Jay. What is it?” she asked innocently.

“Nothing. Just wanted to see you,” Jay answered with a smile feeling a bit calmer seeing the girl’s happy face.

“Oh, that’s nice of you. I just finished my VK collection. Want to take a look?” she asked excitedly.

“Yeah, sure,” and the moment he said that he felt a small hand grabbing his and pulling him towards a place where multiple hangers protected Evie’s creations from wrinkling.

The girl started to explain for whom every single piece was, why did she choose this or that color and what she hoped other children would think about their new clothes. Jay was nodding at her words, from time to time commenting on some shirt or dress reassuring his friend that ‘she did a great job and everyone will love her clothes’. He listened carefully to her every word and he realized Carlos was right. He found the perfect moment to ask her out.

“Hey, Evie?” he interrupted her speech.

“Yes?” She looked at him in question. Having her attention on him, made Jay nervous again.

“Since you’ve finished your collection, maybe we should celebrate it? You know… go for a picnic or dinner…” Jay asked awkwardly. Evie was silently looking at him and her lack of reaction made Jay panic and, unfortunately, chicken out. “I mean ‘we’ like you, me and our friend? I bet they would be up for some fun before all those new kids come. Like the old times and all,” Jay said quickly. Carlos who was still hidden behind the wall groaned quietly and face-palmed at his best friend’s antics. Evie on the other hand seemed to go back to Earth and smiled at the boy in front of her.

“That’s a good idea. It’s going to get cramped here soon and it’s been a while since all of us could just spend time together and relax.”

“So how about this Saturday around two? I think no one’s busy then.”

“Sure. I will inform the girls, you ask the guys. We will make sure to bring food and you take something to play games. I’m going to look for Mal. See you later,” Evie said and almost started skipping towards the place she thought her roommate could be at.

Jay said ‘goodbye’ to her meekly before starting to repeatedly hit his head on the wall. He only stopped when Carlos walked up to him with a glare. The younger boy had a huge urge to smack Jay’s head himself but the idiot was already basically doing it himself so he just sighed heavily. Jay screwed up big. He did score a ‘date’ but it was a ‘group date’.

“Dude, why did you say to invite _all_ of us? You were supposed to ask her on a date. _Alone_ date,” Carlos crossed his arms looking at Jay with a scowl.

“I know, okay?!  I just…” Jay stopped searching for the best way to describe it but change his mind. “She froze when I asked about that picnic. I didn’t want her to feel awkward or anything. I don’t want to lose her friendship. I don’t want her to think that she’s obligated or something. And-“ Jay wanted to continue but those few sentences were enough to annoy Carlos even more.

“You chickened out,” the younger boy accused.

“No! I-I didn’t-“ Jay tried to defend himself but Carlos had enough of the boy’s excuses.

“Oh, just admit it! You’ve gotten cold feet and decided that the best way to cover it was pulling all your friends into your lie.”

“It wasn’t exactly a lie. It is going to be harder to meet soon and it’s been a while since our last common picnic.” Jay averted his eyes kind of ashamed with himself. Carlos glared some more at him before sighing again. He was already tired of Jay and his issues but he promised to help him and as a good friend he was going to keep his word.

“Whatever. Since you seem unable to ask Evie out on your own I’m going to come up with something that’s going to _make_ you ask her.”

With that said Carlos turned around walking briskly away from his friend who stood frozen in place. Jay was half-stunned and half-afraid of what Carlos might do. The younger boy may seem to be the sweetest person in the whole school but Jay knew the sides of Carlos the others didn’t. And he really wished he hadn’t triggered any of the ‘devil’ sides Carlos possessed or else, he was a dead man.

* * *

Jay was on the edge for the next few days. Since Carlos took resolving Jay’s problem of confessing to Evie in his own hands, Jay couldn’t relax. He knew his roommate would come up with some kind of ultimate solution but Carlos preferred quite unusual ways of dealing with things. His ways rarely were straight forward. More often than not, Carlos was cunningly leading people on to gain the best results. Funny thing, either his target didn’t realize anything at all or, in the end, was thankful for his meddling. Of course, it was rare for Carlos to actually meddle in others’ business but that didn’t change the fact the boy was damn good at it.

Thankfully, by the time of the Friday match, Jay completely forgot about Carlos promise in favor of concentrating on the Tourney. The match started with the rival team scoring two points in a short period of time, shocking the Auradon’s Knights but also motivating them to give their all. Shortly before the end of first half, Jay dodged one of the defense players and pretended to pass the ball to Ben to mislead the other. With that done, Jay ran towards the goalkeeper with a scream. Apparently the guy got quite scared of Jay and the fast approaching ball because instead of reflecting it, he moved aside to let the ball pass.

Auradon Prep students cheered and barely heard the sound announcing the end of first half. The team jogged back towards their coach. The man instantly started to explain their new strategy, powered by the goal as much as his players were.

When they came back on the field, the game visibly sped up. Before anyone could even blink, Auradon scored another point. It was a draw now but unexpected actions and complete change of game plan, made the Knights take the lead. Constant attacks brought their rivals to defend themselves without a possibility to retaliate. Before the final blow of a whistle the Knights gained another three points crushing the other team mercilessly.

That evening everyone was celebrating. Not even one person was concerned with the upcoming exams, piles of homework and semester projects. They won. Auradon Knights won. Nothing else mattered. Happy cheers echoed in the hallways for the rest of the night and into the next day.

* * *

Despite Jay ‘s failure at asking Evie out on a date, he was quite happy with the outcome of that horrible conversation. They not only celebrated the blue-haired girl’s new collection for VK kids but could also celebrate the yesterday winning. The picnic was great. They brought lots of food and thanks to everyone’s good mood, the school’s cooks made them a huge chocolate cake and pizza with everyone’s favorite toppings.

While almost everyone grabbed the pizza first as it was natural to eat something solid before grabbing a dessert, Carlos immediately lunged for the cake. Everyone laughed at the boy that was happily munching the sweet treat, his face covered in chocolate just like the day the Core Four arrived in Auradon.

Everyone was genuinely enjoying themselves and forgetting about everything that made them stressed or sad. Jay as well forgot about Carlos’ promise so when the younger boy asked them to play some games, Jay thought nothing of it agreeing to the proposition with a smile.

“What do you want to play?” Evie asked the younger.

“I thought of playing ‘truth or dare’. We’ve never played it before and it seemed fun in the movies,” Carlos said looking at his friend with big, innocent eyes. It was the look no one could resist, he knew that all too well.

“Sure, why not,” Mal agreed with a smirk, already plotting the dares for her friends.

“So… who starts?” Ben asked while putting his arm around his girlfriend’s waist.

“How about Jay starts? He’s our MVP after all,” Evie said and playfully shoved the boy with her elbow.

“Okay, fine. I choose… Chad! Truth or dare?”

“Dare,” the boy answered easily wanting to show off – even if intentionally.

“Okay. I dare you to… go to those guys playing chess over there and make a cheer for them like our cheerleaders,” Jay said with smirk and watched as the boy got up with unhappy face and made his way to the geeks playing nearby. Everyone laughed when Chad started chanting some stupid rhymes and jumping around in some weird kind of dance. Chad came back mumbling something under his breath but quickly getting his humor back as it was his turn to torment someone.

“Mal, truth or _dare_?”

“Dare.” She wasn’t going to back off a challenge that was so evidently thrown her way.

“I dare you to sing for Ben the same song he sang for you the loudest you can.”

Mal scowled but got up and start singing – more like screaming – the song. Once done, she sat back down next to her boyfriend. They were surprised she knew all the lyrics to it despite hearing it only once but they preferred not to ask. She was already a bit angry and they didn’t want dragon-Mal to appear.

“My turn. Jane, truth or dare?”

“Um… truth,’ Jane said quietly, nervous as what the purple-haired girl can ask her.

“Do you like _like_ Carlos?” Mal asked with a mischievous smile and watched with satisfaction as Jane’s and Carlos’ faces turn red.

“…Yes,” Jane answered with big blush adorning her face and looking down just like Carlos who was almost equally red sitting next to her. When Jane managed to control her blush a small bit, she raised her eyes to choose the next person. “Evie, truth or dare?”

“I will go with truth. I’m a bit lazy at the moment,“ the girl said with a laugh, making Jane smile lightly.

“Hm… I don’t know what to ask about… maybe… we know you’re good at domestic chores. Is there any chore you’re actually bad at?” Jane asked with a small shrug.

“Yes, I’m very bad at cleaning the house and washing dishes. I always break something or forget to clean some place. Once when I tried to help mom after dinner, we lost three plates and two glasses,” Evie admitted with a small blush and a sheepish smile making others laugh at her clumsiness. “So, Carlos, truth or dare?”

“…Dare.” Carlos fidgeted slightly not sure his decision but trying to avoid some uncomfortable question made him choose the other option.

“Okay then. I dare you to kiss Jane,” Evie giggle at his slightly horrified face but she knew that deep down the boy was happy with his dare. Jane looked shocked too, her blush coming to the surface once again. A second later Evie could see that something clicked inside Carlos mind because the boy relaxed a bit and smiled slightly.

“Fine.” The boy’s seemingly confident answer made Jane look at him with wide eyes. The boy smiled at her before quickly planting a kiss on her… cheek. Everyone was a bit disappointed and groaned together. “Hey, you didn’t say anything about where I should kiss Jane,” Carlos said with smirk. However he saw a disappointed look on Jane’s and quickly squeezed her hand. She looked at him again and he gave her a wink when no one was looking. It made Jane brighten up again even if her face was still flushed from the small gesture.

“Dang it! You should have been more specific, E,” Mal protested, always eager to tease her friends.

“Sorry. I didn’t think he would find a loophole.”

“He’s ‘Carlos the genius’. It would be bad if he _didn’t_ find that loophole,” Lonnie joked making the boy roll his eyes at the nickname.

“Now’s my turn,” Carlos said and looked directly at his roommate with the most innocent eyes he was able to make.” Jay, truth or dare?”

“Um.” There was something unsettling in the younger boy’s gaze so Jay decided to play it safe. “Truth.”

“Okay, who are you in love with, Jay?” Carlos asked startling the other and making all eyes fall on Jay.

“Um… what if I don’t want to answer the question?” Jay asked in panic, hoping to avoid spilling his secret in front of everyone.

“Well, normally if one doesn’t want to answer, he or she needs to do the dare instead,” Audrey explained the rule. “So, Jay, are you going to answer or Carlos should thought of a dare for you?”

“…I will go with dare, then,” Jay chose something he hoped would be less ‘painful’ but when his saw the devilish smirk that blossomed on his roommate’s face, he knew he was screwed. It was time to execute Carlos’ big plan.

“As you wish Jay,” the teen said that line in a way that made his Isle friends’ to feel shivers run their spines. ‘Devil’ Carlos was out and about to strike. “I dare you to do what you intended to do on last Tuesday at 5:17. In front of everyone here, at loud.” This was pretty specific but Carlos wasn’t going to risk Jay running away at this point. Jay visibly paled while their friends looked confusedly yet curiously between the two.

“But, um, I don’t remember what I tried to do on Tuesday that day,” Jay tried once more.

“You don’t? Then maybe I should remind you, hm?” Carlos asked with an innocent smile and a tilt of head that made Jay gulp in fear. The message was clear: ‘either you tell her, or I’m going to do it’.

Not seeing any other solution, Jay sighed and stood up. He walked slowly towards Evie and held out a hand to help her stand up. The girl took the offered hand with surprise. Carlos smirked, waiting for the show to start. Jay took a deep breath, readying himself to possible humiliation.

“Evie…” he started but felt his nerves taking over again. He glanced at Carlos who raised one eyebrow as if asking: ‘you’re doing it or not?’ – a simple sign that he was ready to tell everything himself. “Evie, last Tuesday when I asked you for a picnic I actually meant it to be just for the two of us. I like you, Evie. More than a friend and well… I wanted to ask you out on a date but you looked so shocked by my invitation that I chickened out,” he said with a shrug, now completely avoiding the blue-haired girl’s eyes.

“Jay, look at me,” Evie requested gently resting her hand on the boy’s cheek. The contact made Jay meet her eyes even if he was uncertain if he really should. “Is it truth? Do you really like me?”

“Yes. I liked you for a long time now. I just thought… You’re too good for me. You’re just simply amazing. There’s no other girl like you out there. Helpful, kind, gentle, talented, fashionable… and that just few of many things I could tell about you. And I’m just… Jay. The thief who enjoys brutal sports and pulling pranks on people. I thought I had no chance with you. You’re way out of my league,” Jay confessed with a serious voice that you rarely heard from the son of Jafar.

“Jay, that’s not true. You’re not ‘just Jay’. You’re brave and protective. You’re always there for me when I need a shoulder to cry on or to talk about my projects even if I bore you to the core,” Evie said with a smile. “You always encourage me when I’m feeling overwhelmed with homework and my projects. You even stayed with me when I was sad over a stupid chemistry grade when you were needed on the field during Tourney match. Jay, you’re the best guy a girl can have as a friend… or someone else.”

“So… if I asked you out now…?” Jay asked kind of lamely with golden sparks of hope playing in his dark eyes.

“I would say ‘yes’, of course. Should I take it as an actual invitation?” Evie asked playfully but the genuine smile adorning her face said it all.

“I would be honored,” Jay answered with a grin before kissing her knuckles as a prince should and making the girl giggle happily. Somewhere along the way Jay’s confidence and usual flirtatious personality came back.

Evie and Jay were brought back to Earth from their little cloud nine by the loud applause given by their forgotten friends. A few whistles were added to the mix when Evie kissed Jay’s cheek making the boy smile widely. He was happy. Finally he managed to confess his feeling even if he needed quite a push from his best friend.

And speaking of Carlos… He was smirking at his roommate, happy that Jay asked Evie out and that his plan of making Jay do it in front of the audience, worked out. His sweet little revenge for making Carlos worried and then chickening out when the opportunity to ask Evie arrived.

Carlos was actually awed by Jay’s courage and silently wished that one day he will be as brave as Jay was just a few moments ago. Why? Because he had a certain daughter of Fairy Godmother to confess to in the near future.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Well, I hoped you enjoyed the first fic in the collection and are ready for next ones because I have 6 more ideas waiting to be written. It may take longer thought as I start university tomorrow and weekend school in two weeks. See you in the next fic!


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